- What can you do with someone else's copyrighted work?
It's a big subject, but I got a few key pointers
that every author needs to know coming right up.
(upbeat music)
Hey, it's Julie the Book Broad with Book Launchers,
a California based company that will help you write,
publish, and sell a fantastic book
that boosts your business and helps you achieve your goals.
If you're writing a non-fiction book,
you're probably quoting other people's work
in your material.
Or you've used other people's work as reference.
In many cases, you're probably interviewing people.
Maybe on podcasts or over the phone
to create content from that.
So, what is considered fair use
and what requires permission?
And what is just outright not okay?
First, here's the disclosure.
I am not a lawyer, so if you have concerns,
it's always best to consult with a professional
who has expertise in this area.
So that's your disclaimer.
Don't listen to what I say, talk to a pro. (laughs)
But keep watching the video.
If you really want to get deep into this subject,
check out this free guide
from Author's Alliance on fair use.
It's a fantastic resource and something that I use
to check all the things I'm going to share with you today.
So, first, fair use is a US copyright law thing
where it says that brief excerpts of copyright material may,
under certain circumstances,
be quoted verbatim for purposes
such as criticism, new reporting, teaching, and research.
In those cases, no need for permission
from the creator or copyright holder.
When it comes to the fair use for criticism,
I think it's important to note
that it does not have to be negative
to be eligible for fair use.
Fair use protects positive comments and discussion as well.
As an author, we will often refer
to other books or works by others
because something they wrote or created inspired us,
and we want to refer to it or built upon it.
That is fair use.
But, keep in mind the word brief.
Brief, short. (laughs)
There's no word limit.
It comes down to the amount of material
used must be reasonable given that purpose.
In other words, it's a judgment call.
But unless there's a really clear argument
as to why you need an entire section of a book
or the entire speech or the whole song,
stick to the most important line or two and you'll be fine.
No matter what, whether you quote it verbatim
or reference it at all,
give the original creator credit.
I didn't realize this point
until I read the Author's Alliance book.
US copyright law does not require attribution,
but how would you feel if someone
quoted your words or references your work,
but didn't give you credit?
(blows raspberry)
That's pretty crappy.
So give your fellow authors a shout out!
A shout out! (laughs)
Now, that's for critic or commentary.
What about to support your point,
which is how a lot of us authors
will use copyrighted material?
Fair use applies when copyrighted material
is being used to illustrate, support,
or prove an argument or point.
But again, there's some limitations
as to what this can cover.
So, watch out for entertainment.
Basically, you can't use someone else's work
for decorative purposes.
This made me wonder about all the one
or two lines quotes out there that get used
just at the start of a chapter
or even for a social media graphic.
But I'll have to investigate that for another day.
As it pertains to the body of your book work,
it's to support your argument, period.
It can entertain while supporting your argument,
but it's not just to be for entertainment.
It's also subject to that reasonable amount
of reproduction test as already talked about.
And again, while not required,
it's just the right thing to do to cite your source.
One fun fact covered in the Fair Use Guide
by the Author's Alliance is charts and graphs.
Are charts and graphs and tables protected by copyright?
And if so, can I rely on fair use
to incorporate them into my nonfiction work?
I thought this was a pretty cool question,
so here's the answer.
Charts, graphs, and tables may be protected by copyright,
but the underlying facts are not copyrightable.
My interpretation, again I am not a lawyer,
but I read this to mean that you probably can't copy
someone else's chart or graph
and reprint without permission.
But you can create your own with the facts given.
Creative choices in the way those facts
are presented in a chart or graph or table
might be sufficiently original
to warrant copyright protection of your own.
That could apply to the original chart
and/or the one you create.
For more copyright information,
check out this video right here.
It's important to note,
copyright does not protect ideas, processes,
facts, systems, principles, or discoveries.
Copyright protects only the expression contained in a work.
There's trademark and patent law for some of those things,
but I can already feel my video editor
getting anxious about all these dry subjects
and how is he going to make this video fun and entertaining?
I mean, you guys give me a lot of credit
for my videos and thank you for that.
But seriously, some of the footage I send
to my editor and he makes me look awesome,
well, you'd realize how hard one of us works
to make me look good. (laughs)
Now, what do you do if you desire
to use someone else's work
and it doesn't fall under fair use?
Well, you can ask them for permission,
look for other works that can be used
under certain licenses of use,
or find material that's no longer covered by copyright.
The copyright expired.
Or just make up something awesome of your own.
Again, check out the fantastic white paper
on this from the Author's Alliance.
The link is below.
And while you're here,
make sure you smash that like button
in appreciation of all the hard work
that goes into making these videos fun for you.
And subscribe to the channel so we can hang out again soon.
New videos every Friday.
See you next time.
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